Genesis 19:15-26
It’s a familiar story: Lot and his family are told by angels to flee Sodom. The angels told them not to look back, but Lot’s wife did, and she was turned into a pillar of salt.
I’ve heard that story all my life, but one day it changed for me. I realized that I am Lot’s wife. I keep turning back to a life of sin.
What about you?
When God saves us, we have a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17). Just as God called Lot’s family out of Sodom, He beckons us from the destruction of sin. So why do we keep turning back? Why do we keep looking at the way we used to live?
The short answer: we’re sinners. We make mistakes over and over. Some sins are so ingrained in us, they’re hard to let go.
The long answer: we grow complacent in our sin. It becomes routine to us. So routine it barely bothers us when we sin.
I’m sure you’ve wondered why Lot’s wife turned back. I know I have. But Lot’s wife was probably used to Sodom. Its familiarity beckoned her more than an unknown city or mountain. Plus, Lot was a well-established citizen by this point, and wherever they went next, they would be strangers.
We experience this, too. We’re afraid of the unknown, and when God begins to nudge us out of comfort zone, we freeze. Sometimes this all boils down to a lack of trust in God. Surrendering your path to Him requires a level of faith that maybe we don’t have. We cling onto the familiarity of what we once knew. Maybe if we begin to shed our old sins, we’ll lose friends. Maybe others will begin treating us differently, poking fun at us and our beliefs. Maybe we’re not sure how to establish ourselves in our new identity. Maybe we’re afraid we’ll never truly be able to leave our old life behind. Maybe we think it will be too hard to turn from sin. Maybe we think following God is inconvenient. Maybe we don’t even realize what we’re doing.
So how do we keep from looking back at Sodom?
1) Ask God to create in you a clean heart and renew a right spirit (Psalm 51:10). We’re going to make mistakes. What’s important is what we do after the mistakes. When we don’t acknowledge sin, when we don’t admit there’s a behavior that needs to change, we allow that sin to fester within us. It’s best to get that out in the open and dealt with as soon as possible. And sometimes we’re blind to an area we need to change. But God can illuminate that area in our lives so we see the changes we need to make so we can move forward.
2) Accept that you’re a stranger (Romans 12:2). The fact is that the world doesn’t like strangers. Stranger danger isn’t just something we teach our children to keep them safe. It’s something the world uses against Christians as a defense mechanism. The world doesn’t want to be reminded of what they’re doing wrong, so they try to villainize us instead, make our behavior seem abnormal. John 15:19 says, If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. We can never expect to be popular. In fact, we should expect to be unpopular. By leaving popularity behind, we can leave Sodom behind, too.
3) Anticipate temptations (2 Peter 2:9). God has given us several tools in His Word to avoid temptation. Temptation is going to happen, and the closer we come to God, the better we are able to anticipate where temptations lie and avoid them. When we do run into temptations, we can prevail more when we are well-grounded in His Word.
Do you have trouble leaving Sodom behind? Do you keep turning back? What do you think makes you keep turning back to sin?
